University lecturers vote to strike on pay

Universities face the threat of disruption later this month after a lecturers' union voted to strike over pay by a majority of two-to-one.

In a joint campaign to bring universities to a standstill, members of the Association of University Teachers are likely to join with the National Union of Students, which is protesting against the proposed £3,000 top-up fee.

The AUT objects to plans to overhaul the higher education pay structure, which it claims could lead to many senior support staff losing £47,000 in wages over 21 years, as well as researchers losing £17,300 over nine years and lecturers losing £6,300 over eight years.

Yesterday the government accused the union of being "opportunistic" in linking the pay dispute to the parliamentary bill on top-up fees, and employers questioned the strength of the mandate for a strike. The AUT has 47,000 members working at most of Britain's universities. In the postal ballot, 54.4% of members took part; of these, 66.6% backed strike action and 81.2% backed action short of a strike.

Jocelyn Prudence, the chief executive of the Universities and Colleges Employers' Association, said: "It is regrettable the AUT should be proposing to strike over the necessary modernisation of pay structures, and at a time when the financial pressures on universities have never had a higher profile. After such a prolonged, heavy campaign, only one in three members has supported the call for a strike."

A Department for Education and Skills spokesman said the bill, ensuring institutions got about £1bn in extra funding, would directly benefit students and mean more money available for salaries.

But Sally Hunt, the AUT's general secretary, said the moves would lead to "marketisation of higher education".